Tuesday's letters: Critical thinking

Tuesday

Mar 19, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Critical thinking

To the editor: I recently noticed a wonderful bumper sticker that read: “Critical thinking, the other national deficit.” Truer words have never been printed on a bumper sticker or constituted a more appropriate commentary on our society.

To the editor: I recently noticed a wonderful bumper sticker that read: “Critical thinking, the other national deficit.” Truer words have never been printed on a bumper sticker or constituted a more appropriate commentary on our society.Critical thinking is defined by Wikipedia as “a way of deciding whether a claim is always true, sometimes true, partly true, or false.”One prime example of the lack of critical thinking is persistent accusations of communism and Marxism leveled at President Barack Obama. You should ask yourself: Where did you get your information? Is the source unbiased and reliable? What is communism, and how do the actions of the president reflect this ideology?Recently an official in the local health department wrote a piece for this paper in which she referenced The Heritage Foundation three times. Critical readers would, at the very least, Google her source and attempt to determine whether or not this source is trustworthy, has a particular agenda or bias, and do the facts support their/her suppositions?Critical thinking is not taking the word of MSNBC or Fox News; it is thinking rationally and questioning everything you hear or see. It is essential for a functioning democracy and for a healthy society.John D. ParrisEtowah

To the editor: Food safety officials in the United Kingdom, France and Sweden recently found traces of horse meat in ground beef sold across Europe. Massive recalls and lawsuits are ensuing.Can it happen here? Horse slaughter for human consumption was banned in the U.S. between 2007 and 2011. But now a New Mexico slaughterhouse is getting approved by U.S. authorities to slaughter horses for human consumption, and a Philadelphia restaurant has already announced plans to serve horse meat.I marvel at our hypocrisy of rejecting the notion of horse or dog meat on our dinner plates while condemning cows, pigs and chickens to the same fate. Obviously, we have established special relationships with horses and dogs as our companions, protectors and sports protagonists rather than as food. But where is the ethical and logical distinction, given that all these animals are endowed by individuality, sentience and an ability to experience the same feelings of joy, affection, sadness and fear that we do?Fortunately, our health food industry has spared us from having to choose which animals to pet and which ones to eat. Its delicious soy- and grain-based meat alternatives are available in every supermarket.Brett RykersFletcher